Curtailing aid to Ukraine will only prolong the war, Mr Zelensky argues. And it would create risks for the West in its own backyard. There is no way of predicting how the millions of Ukrainian refugees in European countries would react to their country being abandoned. Ukrainians have generally “behaved well” and are “very grateful” to those who sheltered them. They will not forget that generosity. But it would not be a “good story” for Europe if it were to “drive these people into a corner”.
Oof. “Subtly” threatening allies that the refugees they accepted (usually with very generous arrangements to make it easier to get in) might become a threat unless Ukraine receives continuing support doesn’t sound like a smart move.
But it’s not exactly a threat is it? It’s a very reasonable observation about how Ukrainian refugees might feel and behave.
Wouldn’t you feel the same way? Your country gets invaded, you flee to a generous supporting friendly country. That country stops being supporting, and your chances to return home start to vanish. You didn’t choose to be here. Now you’re stuck in a foreign country that you feel could be doing more to fight injustice and give you a chance to return home.
He’s the president of a democracy, not a mind controller. People will feel a certain way. He’s simply observing this potential situation, as a warning to the allies not to slide into complacency.
Couldn’t this part apply to most of the world’s refugees?
Yeah but most of the world’s refugees get less tv coverage.
Sure, but it really makes refugees that are still residents in a resident country ungrateful jerks and Xenophobic bastards will spread this rhetoric like butter…
That’s the story for virtually every refugee in existence, the vast majority getting zero support. The USA has created tens of millions of them in the past few years. Which terrorist acts have they committed?
“It’s completely reasonable to attack your benefactors!” What the fuck is wrong with you?
I see it less as a threat that they will do something in that country, it is that they will want to leave and go back to fight for Ukraine and they will be no longer working in the country they went to, if these countries were getting labor from the refugees then they will lose that as they leave.
This one has layers. Slave exploitation of refugees and the threat of its removal. Wtf am I reading?
Ukraine is looking for soldiers so it shouldn’t be a problem.
Which, of course, condones terrorism because Ukrainians are white and Muslims are not.
Huh?
Not OP, but they didn’t flee to the country just for funsies but because there’s war raging in their home country. They didn’t choose to emigrate to a certain country because they always wanted to live there but because they feared for their lives.
A lot of people, maybe. There’s also a pretty solid minority of people who see this as a great way of making some easy bucks (it absolutely is, if you think about it).
And before you say I’m making this up, this is based both on stories told by Ukrainian acquaintances about people they know who emigrated, and personal experiences with the average refugee who left.
Don’t forget that becoming a refugee IS a privilege generally reserved for those with enough money to make the trip, not for the poor bastard dying for his country.
So you agree that the overwhelming majority of the people fled the country for totally legitimate reasons? Then why does this point need to be made at all? Ukraine isn’t some African country where people need to struggle for basic necessities, it’s mostly a developed first world country. Most people don’t need to go anywhere for a better life, let alone get put into a room in Berlin with their entire family. How about we stop downplaying the immense tragedy of having to leave your entire life behind in fear of being killed because some dipshits take advantage?
It’s not even subtle. “We’re very grateful for the aid, but if you stop helping us, who knows what might happen to you?” is a damn threat. I’m actually pretty disappointed in him for that one.
He’s stating the obvious. It’s no more threatening than saying you’ll burn your hand if you touch the hot stove.
Is it still tone deaf? Absolutely.
Their government has been trying to keep the issue of aid in the public interest for a reason. Sometimes they might go too far, but I think people underestimate the fear a country would experience if they were highly dependent on outside help. Especially if it wasn’t guaranteed to continue due to changes in the political leadership in the other countries.